I’ve always enjoyed the spirit of St. Patrick’s day, though admittedly I never knew much about the holiday. All I knew is I had some Irish heritage, that pinching green defectors in Elementary school was fun, and that drinking copious amounts of green beer in college was even more fun.

As I’ve been a trivia host for the past year, my interest in knowing random facts has certainly increased. I am no longer in college myself, so I have to find new reasons to learn and do research. In honor of St. Patrick’s Day 2017, I’ve done some sleuthing on the interwebs for information on this fun emerald holiday. And I’ve learned a lot of things I didn’t know!

So whether you celebrate by honoring St. Patrick, with a bunch of beer with your buddies, pinching your coworkers, or dying all your food green, you’ll all have something fun to add to the St. Patrick’s Day Conversation.

Here is a fun fact: though I’ve been a freelance worker since leaving college almost three years ago, I didn’t even know “Freelancer” was a possible career option until very recently. Growing up with the privilege of attending a great K-12 school and later University, let’s just say that becoming a freelance professional was probably not on my parent’s list of “potential post-graduate career options for Celia.” It wasn’t really on mine either.

I remember how when growing up people would ask me the question, “What do you want to be?” I’d always fire back with jobs that most would consider to be full-time positions. One day, it would be “Maybe a lawyer like my parents” or “A dentist” or “An English teacher” or “I’ll work in advertising!” Of course coupled with all of those full time careers, I’d always also mention “Oh, and maybe an author, too! I want to write books” or “And an actor!” Basically, I always planned on being something, but I also always planned on being everything.

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I confess: I have a classic case of online shopaholic-itis. (Yes, it’s a real thing.) But thankfully last April I discovered this awesome Google Chrome extension that has literally changed. my. life. Or at least my online shopping game. For the past year, I have gotten cash back every single time I’ve shopped online, in addition to discovering amazing shopping deals without even trying. Since signing up with the free Ebates extension (which is also an App!) , I’ve already made over $90 cash back,” and the savings keep increasing! So what exactly is it, you ask? In short, Ebates helps you get usually between 2% and 15% cash back on basically anywhere you shop online. I.e. 2,000 stores and growing! And sometimes, it’s up to 40% cash back. Crazy!

Ebates works with a bunch of big-name brands like Nordstrom, Kohl’s, and Amazon, and even cool just-digital websites like Etsy and Threadless. Do you want to save big too? Waste no time and click the exclusive sign up button below now! Don’t worry. Ebates is completely free and super easy to use. [And did I mention you’ll get a $10 bonus if you spend $25 within the first 90 days? No? Well, now I have.]

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Okay, so maybe you want to wait before clicking that random green button? That’s fine. Sometimes I’m conscientious too. Maybe you want to be convinced further on why exactly this Google chrome extension and website will totally change the way you shop online. I get it. That’s why I’ve provided you a thorough review of my experience in this post. Read more below (and don’t worry, the chance to click that little green button will appear at the end of this post as well. 😉 ).

There’s nothing quite like, after a very long work week, stabbing something repetitively with a huge knife. It was like the spaghetti squash was waiting for me. Admittedly, it was. I purchased this vegetable wonder two months ago, at the beginning of January. Entering my apartment at 7:30pm, just then arriving back home from an unexpectedly long work day, I was at a loss as to if I had anything in my kitchen to prepare even a semblance of a meal. Then I remembered: the yellow wonder hidden in a grocery bag behind the microwave, as if it knew what was to be its fate one day. I wondered if it would still even be fresh. But, lo! It was, and after preheating my oven to 375, the slaughter cooking began. [Actual recipe on How to Bake a Spaghetti Squash below.]

Today, we celebrate women. Wednesday March 8 2017 marks the 103rd official International Women’s Day, and what an occasional it is this year, ladies! Harkening back to the events these day was created to originally celebrate, women across the United States and wearing red and going on strike to also celebrate “A Day Without Women.” And BOTH of these events of course happen in the midst of Women’s History Month. Although I will be working today (but only at ONE of my three jobs!), this week I prepared to celebrate the day by compiling a list of 15 inspirational quotes by truly trailblazing women in our history and current times. You’ll find them, along with snazzy inspirational graphics (made by yours truly on my favorite design apps, Canva and Typorama), below.

To me, feminism is for everyone, from any time, and its been a long and continuous journey. In this selection of 15, I’ve tried to capture women of different ages, times, races, vocations, sexualities, and more, but I know there are so so so many women not on this list. I’d love for you to add to the collection yourself by commenting below with a quote from one of your favorite inspiring females! For my next inspirational-quotes round up, I may just graphic-a-fy them. 😉 Happy International Women’s Day, to all the women that have been, are now, and will be! The human race literally wouldn’t exist without you. And for more reasons than the fact that you can grow life <3

1. “Don’t compromise yourself. You’re all you’ve got.” – Janis Joplin

For more about Janis, check out “Love Janis”, this biography written by the Rock Icon’s younger sister.